


joined at the mind, not the hip

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Eight H/C Bingo Card [71]
Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Gen, Mind Meld, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 23:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13134756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: The first thing she notices is the way her body moves a little slower. Her reaction times aren't as good, and feet aren't as quick. It isn't the ache of aging—she's familiar with that. This is something different. Possibly something more sinister.She keeps it to herself. Better to wait until she knows more before she raises the alarm.Holly and Artemis' little jaunt through the time stream has longer-lasting effects than they'd realize. Canon-divergent from the end of Lost Colony.





	joined at the mind, not the hip

The first thing she notices is the way her body moves a little slower. Her reaction times aren't as good, and feet aren't as quick. It isn't the ache of aging—she's familiar with that. This is something different. Possibly something more sinister.

She keeps it to herself. Better to wait until she knows more before she raises the alarm.

The second thing she notices is the way her mind moves a little quicker. She can see the way events around her are going to play out, and she knows how to guide them down the path she wants. This isn't the wisdom of age—she's familiar with that too. This is still something different. Something more.

Still, she keeps it to herself. It could still all just be a coincidence.

The third thing she notices is the way the world always looks a little fuzzier through Artemis' eye than through her own. Fuzzy, and almost _wrong_ , somehow. Like another world filmed over the one she can see so clearly with her other eye.

It's when she makes out the clear form of Butler through her borrowed eye that she finally realizes she can't keep this to herself any longer. The jolt of wholly separate realization in her chest lets her know he's realized it too.

She asks Foaly to pull a few strings to get her a surface visa, and she isn't as surprised as she thinks she should be when she sees the Fowl Bentley parked near the entrance to the shuttle port.

"Really, Artemis, it wasn't necessary for you to come all this way," Holly says as Butler lets her into the vehicle.

"Perhaps," Artemis says, his voice sounding more strained than she'd heard it in years, "but if it might provide some insight into why Butler's thrice defeated me in our chess matches over the last fortnight, it seemed a small price to pay."

Holly glances up at Butler, who merely winks cheekily at her in the rearview mirror.

Artemis' ire aside, Holly can see where the boy is coming from. "I can't say I'm altogether pleased with the developments either," she confides. "I'm hardly fast enough to keep up with the new recruits anymore, let alone the other officers."

Artemis purses his lips. "A transfer of skills," he surmises, and Holly nods.

"It would explain why you've been moving faster these last few days—"

"And why your minds has been quicker on the draw," Artemis finishes for her. "Indeed it would."

Holly opens her mouth to say something more when she not only sees Artemis start thinking about what could be going on, but actually _feels_ the way his brain starts working overtime. It takes half a thought, an instinctive reaction to lend help to her friend, but she can see and feel it the instant Artemis feels what she's done. She can see and feel herself what he's just realized.

His eyes lock onto hers, wide and stunned. He doesn't need to speak the words for her to understand, but he does. More for Butler's sake than hers, she realizes, though ARtemis seems to sense that she will appreciate the courtesy of a verbal explanation. "A bond," he murmurs, sounding intrigued and yet altogether stunned. "A true two-way mental and physical bond."

Holly nods, silently encouraging him to go on.

"A magical link between us, one that gives you access to my mental faculties and me access to your physical skills. No doubt borne of our adventure in the time streams together, and the exchange of our eyes."

Holly purses her lips. "Nothing like this has been documented since the People went underground."

"You've no experts on such bonds?"

Holly hesitates. "I… may know some people."

Artemis grins. "By which you mean Foaly may know some people."

Holly rolls her eyes. "Something like that. Don't get too cocky there, _Mud Boy_ , we both know that wasn't just your intuition."

Artemis shrugs, unrepentant. "Have you ever known me to ignore a perfectly useful tool when it's handed to me?"

"No," Holly concedes, "I daresay I haven't."

Artemis nods, and then sobers. "Still. We must have access to these so-called experts if we are to ascertain the long-term effects of this bond."

Holly nods in agreement, reaching up don her helmet and ring Police Plaza. "I hate to agree with you, Mud Boy, but you've got a point. I'll see what I can do."

Artemis nods, and though Holly can feel his mind ticking over with thoughts and plans and schemes, she can also feel the nerves prickling under his skin in a way she'd never known before. She reaches out, clasping his elbow briefly, and revels in the calm that smooths its way through the place where their minds meet. It doesn't calm him entirely, but it does seem to still some of the storm inside him. A temporary measure, but temporary is all she needs.

They're going to find a way to fix this, or, if they can't fix it, at least manage it. Artemis is one of the smartest Mud Men of the age. She expects nothing less, and neither does he. They're going to find a way to fix this. They always do.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Part of my Round Eight H/C Bingo Card. [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


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